June 22, 2009
Ashley will be a Spartan
It will take a degree of patience on both sides of the equation before the dividends are on display but Brieanna Ashley has made her college choice. Despite overriding a fine year statistically with a late ...
Ashley will return better than ever
It will take a degree of patience on both sides of the equation before the dividends are on display but Brieanna Ashley has made her college choice. The 6-foot-2 Bishop O’Dowd (BOD) tower of power is heading to the Western Athletic Conference.
Based on her senior season production, Ashley was named as a member of the 2008-2009 First Team Hayward Area Athletic league (HAAL) squad. She averaged 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks a contest. She also shot 61% on the season. In a January game against Sacred Heart, Ashley swatted away an unheard of 10 shot attempts.
But overriding the fine year Ashley and Bishop O’Dowd enjoyed -- 28-3 including four playoff victories until falling to St. Mary’s of Stockton -- was a late season knee injury. "That was unfortunate because she was blossoming for us," Kevin Cushing, the BOD head coach said. Ashley had just recovered from earlier knee woes.
Now she has signed with San Jose State. The plan is for her to redshirt her initial year and focus on the rehabilitation of her knee. Then as a sophomore academically but a freshman athletically, Ashley will enter college competition.
Why San Jose State? "Because when I went there and met the team and learned about the program, it seemed like I fit right in," Ashley said. Coach Pam DeCosta needs size and production inside and obviously was willing to wait another season in order to have Ashley on her roster.
Here’s former Bishop O’Dowd assistant Malik McCord (who is now the head coach after Cushing decided to depart the position -- Cushing will remain as an assistant principal) on Ashley: "She’s a great kid who plays hard and takes basketball very seriously. She is very agile and moves well for her size."
McCord also noted that Ashley has a particular talent as a shotblocker but is unique in that "she keeps the ball in bounds."
Ashley concurs. "My defense is my best basketball skill, that and my offensive post work."
She came to Bishop O’Dowd for her senior season, transferring in from Amador Valley High. The primary reason for the shift? Because her younger brother, Brandon, decided to attend BOD after completing junior high. Brandon was a freshman this year and is a top basketball talent in his own right.
Coming to a new team as a senior has caused rifts in previous situations. Not so this time. "Brieanna is just so nice, all the girls loved her as a teammate," Cushing said.
There’s a family history of hoops and Ashley has been a long-time player. "My mom and my dad both played so it’s like a family sport," according to Ashley. "I started way back with CYO ball."
Her latest grade point average was 3.0 so academics are of no concern.
It’s still another season away but Ashley’s main competition on the SJSU roster appears to 6-foot-2 sophomore Dominique Hamilton (out of Piedmont High) who enjoyed 10 starts as a freshman and played 10 minutes a game. Myesha Broaden, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, earned 8 starts and was on the court for 15 minutes a game. Each will have another year of experience as will new junior college transfer Samantha Marez, a 6-foot-3 junior, before Ashley challenges for minutes.
As a team, the Spartans were badly outshot and out-boarded in 2008-2009 so greater size and skill are sorely needed inside. That’s a clarion call for someone like Ashley.